On The Inside, Looking Out
by tromana
Summary: -companion fic to On the Outside, Looking In- A SCU case goes sour and Jane and Lisbon are caught in the middle of it all. Jane/Lisbon. For boutondor.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **So this fic is for boutondor, who asked for a Jane/Lisbon fic from somebody else's perspective. Of course, that means I choose to write both perspectives, because I'm a slave to the plot bunnies like that.

It _shouldn't_ be necessary to read both perspectives, but hopefully it'll be fun and they'll make quite interesting contrasts from one another. Inside should focus more on the case, whereas Outside will focus more on Bosco's opinion on Jane and Lisbon and the way they work together.

Anyway, enjoy. I think.

x tromana

* * *

**Title:** On the Inside, Looking Out  
**Author:** tromana  
**Rating:** T  
**Characters:** Jane/Lisbon, Bosco  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine.  
**Summary:** -companion fic to On the Outside, Looking In- A SCU case goes sour and Jane and Lisbon are caught in the middle of it all.  
**Spoilers: **Up to 2x07 Red Bulls  
**Notes:** written for boutondor. Beta'd by my twin, tea-drinking buddy and co-conspirator, also known as Divinia Serit. You so totally rock (squirt).

**On the Inside, Looking Out**

**Part One**

"Jane!"

Jane recognized the tone instantaneously. It was her 'I'm pissed as hell with you and you really don't want to mess with me' tone. The kind which normally sent him scurrying away to hide rather than suffering through her wrath. It was easier for everyone that way - she kept her voice intact and actually managed to deal with the fallout of whatever the problem was and he managed to avoid any damage to his not-so-fragile ego. Briefly, he wondered what it was he could have done wrong this time around and then he remembered. Bosco. Lisbon was always a little funny when it came to her old mentor and despite the fact she refused to admit it, Jane knew that she had more than a little affection for her old mentor. Since the deal with the whole Westlake incident, Bosco seemed a little more accepting of Jane's talents and frankly, that was a relief. Especially since it had gained him access to the Red John files, albeit abridged versions. Admittedly, that case had only concluded a mere handful of hours ago, but Jane was confident that the change would last for some time. Maybe teasing her about it had gone a little too far…

The little woman had a vicious, almost predatory, look in her eyes as she approached Jane, looking like she was about to explode. Out of sheer instinct, he smirked in response. After all, people said nice things come in small packages, like diamonds. Or dynamite. For some reason, he had a feeling that Lisbon was more easily comparable to the latter than the former. Shaking his head, he observed her with interest as she approached him, cornering him by the kettle in the kitchenette. Her fingers were bending and flexing, her breathing was slightly faster than usual, obviously preparing for the fight and she held her gaze defiantly. Yes, she was definitely angry. Or, maybe that was phrasing it a little lightly, but never mind.

"Why did you…"

"Uh, Boss?"

The start of Lisbon's question reminded him of something else he'd done for her lately. Maybe it wasn't Bosco she was annoyed with, maybe it was what he'd done to her office earlier? He'd thought it was nice. Shrugging his shoulders, he glanced up at Rigsby. He looked frankly terrified at the concept of interrupting Lisbon's tirade and cowed a little when she turned on her heels to practically shoot death rays in his direction. Jane was not only grateful for the reprieve, but highly amused at seeing the sight of the large agent looking so terrified at the sight of such a petite woman. Though he'd been working with the SCU for quite some time, it still hadn't grown old.

"Yes, Rigsby?"

"We have a case."

"Lovely," she replied with clipped tones. "You can update me on the way there."

She started walking out of the kitchenette and looking down at his cup of tea with a distinct air of disappointment, he tossed it down the sink and watched as the milky liquid swirled down the plughole. That was a waste of a damn fine beverage and he had to take a second to mourn the loss.

"Well, are you coming?" Lisbon snapped, her penetrating gaze fixated on him. "Or would you rather stay here and do some paperwork?"

"No, no, I'm coming, I'm coming."

As she nodded, Jane swore he heard her mutter a quiet 'damn' under her breath. Poor woman was translucent, however much she tried to deny it.

***

"What do we have here?"

Cho listed the facts with practiced ease and Lisbon nodded as she took in the details. The local sheriff eyed Jane warily as he scoured the body, identifying the fact that she hadn't been murdered in the location as originally suggested and had been transported after death. Lisbon was growing concerned; the last thing she wanted was another ruckus between Jane and the locals, it always caused far more hassle than necessary and besides, they had a murder to focus on. The victim, a teenage girl, had her recently obtained driving license on her and it revealed her identity, quickly answering a piece of the puzzle. Michelle Creston appeared to have received a single gunshot wound to the head and merely dumped on the side of the road. There were no obvious clues as to why she'd died and she certainly didn't appear to have been sexually violated, so Lisbon could only hope that informing her father would give them a few more answers than her body had done.

When traveling to the Creston family home, Lisbon found herself trapped alone in the SUV with Jane. Somewhat sensibly, Cho and Rigsby had opted to travel in another vehicle leaving the other two alone with their atmosphere. She knew it was a little petty, but really, what grown man thought it was a good idea to cover somebody's office with confetti, thus making her waste an entire hour tidying up before facing the avalanche of paperwork (most of which was the fault of said man?) Really, he was just infuriating. Just when she thought she was getting somewhere with him, he pulled a stunt like that. But Lisbon also knew there was little point in asking Jane why he'd done it. She's learned a lot about him since working with him, one of which being his desire to be a nuisance as demonstrated with incredibly childish behavior. That's all this latest charade was, attention seeking. And she also knew that given a little time and a good night's sleep, her mood would dissipate. It always did.

She just had to inform a father that his little girl had died first. And get to their home without killing Jane.

"You're still angry," Jane spoke genially, his voice cutting through the tension like a knife. Lisbon merely clicked her tongue in irritation. "You're wondering why I did it."

Silence.

"Doesn't every girl like pretty things?" he continued.

"I'm hardly a girl anymore, Jane," she eventually responded, though immediately regretted encouraging him.

"Ah, but there's still that inner child within you, however much you try to deny it."

"Whatever."

"I saw you smile. If only for half a second, before you realized that you had to do all the cleaning up."

"_Whatever_, Jane," she repeated but her eyes lit up when the Creston family residence came into view. "We're here. C'mon."

Generally, Jane was torn when it came to this type of meeting. Sure, it gave him the ideal opportunity to observe the mourning relatives first hand and pick up clues about the deceased's lifestyle which people wouldn't usually offer willingly. But it also posed too many uncomfortable questions about his own sordid history. Like how different things could have been if a cop, not too dissimilar from Lisbon, had informed him of his family's death rather than him being the one to discover their bodies. Besides, he didn't like being trapped in a room filled with such despair and hopelessness. It reminded him too much of how he felt underneath the mask he'd spent years honing.

Edward Creston was no different to the usual drill. The moment Lisbon uttered the fateful words, the man's world appeared to turn upside down, though there was something that suggested he seemed to have been almost prepared to receive it too. Frowning, Jane excused himself from the room, allowing the agents to do their jobs while he undertook some snooping. He wasn't really expecting to find anything. In the short time he'd spent listening to the conversation, it was obvious that Edward appeared devoted to his only child, almost to an unhealthy extent. But then again, that was also hardly surprising. The man, being trapped on the inside, probably hadn't realized his near obsession with caring for his daughter, probably exacerbated by the death of his wife. He probably wore rose colored glasses, was blind to her every fault and attempted to wrap her up in cotton wool as she tried to find her own way in the world.

That was why Jane was somewhat surprised when his hands came into contact with a firearm, quite possibly the one used to kill Michelle, as he rifled amongst the garbage. Obviously though, he wasn't as surprised as Lisbon who looked at the weapon with wide green eyes for a good few seconds. Eventually, she shook her head to come to her senses and cuffed Edward. She really liked easy cases.

**TBC…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Firstly, I apologise for the delay in updating this. It's partially because I really wanted to get Pretty Lies finished and partially because whenever I update this, I want to update Outside at the same time. Mainly because I want to reveal certain plot points at the same time and it might read oddly unless they're both published at the same time. Anyway, now PL is finished, I'm hoping I'll be able to get these moving a little quicker now. But no promises though, because we all know how well they can go down.

Anyway thanks go to: boutondor, phoenixmagic1, yaba, lisbon69, Sarcasm-the Lowest Form of Wit, Frogster, Divinia Serit, Koezh, Ebony10, WildDaisies10 and Viktorija for reviewing part one.

And also to Div for betaing. I would write something witty here for you, but you already know how tired I am. So there.

x tromana

* * *

**Part Two**

"It's too easy."

"Sometimes, things are just that black and white, Jane, " Lisbon retorted irritably. She hated having this argument time and time again - usually whenever the blond was feeling particularly bored. "You're just annoyed you didn't get to use your voodoo crap to lure out the killer."

"Hey, I found the murder weapon, didn't I? And besides, it's not crap and you know it."

"Well, yes, but there's still no need for you to overcomplicate the case," she snapped back before glancing over at Bosco as they walked past him. "Hey, Bosco."

"Teresa."

"Jane, I'll be two minutes. I need a word with Van Pelt."

After instructing Van Pelt to follow up the fingerprinting of the firearm, knowing full well it was going to take ages, she headed back to the interrogation room and pushed the door open. There had been an odd look in Bosco's eyes, a sort of cross between sympathy and irritation. She quickly shook her head to clear her mind, she shouldn't have been thinking about Bosco anyway. As always, the A.G. was expecting an iron clad case and that meant she had to work Edward Creston until she got a confession.

When she saw Jane had already made himself comfortable, sitting beside Creston and chatting away as if they were lifelong friends, she immediately regretted her decision to leave him alone with the suspect for even that brief moment of time. She sighed. Already, Lisbon could tell that Jane was in one of those moods where he was going to defy her every instruction and was out to cause her as much trouble as feasibly possible. Though Jane claimed that he and Bosco were amiable now, she had a feeling his irritable mood was something to do with having been forced to work so closely with that specific senior agent. It had amused her no end seeing the pair try and work sensibly together. It also caused her several problems as both saw it fit to take their frustrations out on her. And though they had somehow molded to each other's style of crime-solving in the end, both now seemed surlier than even and she was caught in the middle. Jane's attitude didn't surprise her, however as he wasn't used to being unable to manipulate others. He was used to being given an inch and taking a mile. She really needed to get him back under some sort of control, otherwise it was going to blow up in her face and soon.

"He didn't do it. You should let him go."

"Hey, thanks," Creston replied, surprised at Jane's outburst but appreciative nevertheless.

"I haven't even asked any questions yet," Lisbon retorted, narrowing her eyes at Jane. "Besides, even you can't have come to that conclusion so quickly."

"Look at his body language, he's not concealing anything," Jane answered back before glancing at Creston. "You're not hiding anything are you?"

The father of the deceased shook his head and Jane glanced back at Lisbon with a triumphant expression on his face.

"Fine, fine. Just let me go through my boring formalities and see if _I_ come to the same decision, okay?"

Jane's smug expression didn't change and Lisbon found herself growing even more annoyed. Yet again, he was convinced that he was right and was therefore annoyed and a little confused as to why she wasn't taking his advice immediately. Regardless of Jane's hunches, Edward Creston was still their number one and currently, only suspect and she couldn't let him go based on the simple fact that his body language suggested he was innocent.

Besides, as the interview progressed, Creston did nothing to convince her either way. He had no alibi, simply stating he had had an early night because of a bad headache. However, he also had no real motive and he genuinely seemed devastated at the loss of his only daughter and justifiably so. The only friction between him and his 'Shelly' had apparently been due to the boyfriend he didn't approve of. The boyfriend who was, according to him, lowlife scum and a dirty criminal. It was plausible that the weapon could have been planted by somebody. And if this boy was as much of a troublemaker as Creston seemed convinced he was, it could easily have been him who killed his girlfriend after an argument escalated.

For some reason, Lisbon didn't feel like that was the case though.

What had originally felt like a terribly easy case was quickly becoming more and more complicated. Eventually, she decided that she would have to cut him loose. Despite the fact they had found the murder weapon on his property, she felt she didn't have enough to hold him on just yet. Besides, the man was growing hysterical and if he was responsible for the death of his daughter, that meant he could quite easily make a foolish mistake. And at least in the mean time, they had another lead to follow but that didn't mean Lisbon was happy with Jane and his know-it-all grin as she left the room.

***

At least Creston's accusations were somewhat accurate, she surmised as she headed towards Bosco's office. Van Pelt had quickly uncovered information showing that Jared Grimshaw had a rap sheet that was a mile long and had most recently been involved in a spate of attacks on homes in the local area. And that was why Lisbon needed to talk to Bosco. He was the one who had dealt with Grimshaw's case and she needed to get as much information on him before they went to proposition him. She knew that Bosco would be relatively unimpressed at having to deal with them so soon after the kidnapping incident. And despite the fact he now had a grudging respect for Jane and he had given him an abridged copy of the Red John file, something which the blond seemed to permanently have his nose buried in, she knew Bosco well enough to know that he still resented her consultant. She tapped on Bosco's office door and smiled gently when he called, granting her access. It was a relief that he was still willing to help her, even though he could possibly land up getting more embroiled in their current case than he'd probably like.

"Thanks for this, Sam," she murmured as she closed the door behind her. "I appreciate it."

"Any time."

She took notes and listened attentively as Bosco informed her about everything he knew about Grimshaw. It sounded like mostly petty stuff - and that the only reason Bosco's unit was involved at all was because one of the families he attacked was close friends with a deputy A.G. But still, what he had told her was useful and it felt reassuring knowing they weren't going to be walking into a situation without knowing the bigger picture. Grimshaw's other accusations made things slightly more complex but the background of violence also meant a conviction would be more likely provided he was guilty.

"Is that all you have?" Lisbon murmured and Sam nodded in response. It had been useful, but for some reason, she had expected more.

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, thanks again," she replied and stood to leave.

"Teresa?

"Yes?"

"I have to ask - how can you stand him?"

"Jane?"

"Of course."

"What sort of a question is that?"

While Lisbon had entered Bosco's office in a reasonably good mood, she left fuming. She knew that he didn't really approve of Patrick Jane and particularly his unorthodox methods, but that didn't mean that he had the right to question her about her working relationship with him. As she stomped off back to her office, she quickly decided that the only thing that would cheer her up, except maybe a night off with a tub of ice cream and a good book, would be that this lead didn't turn out to be trivial nonsense.

"Boss?"

She had barely rounded the corner when Rigsby approached her, looking panicked. Her gentle giant always wore his heart on his sleeve so it was obvious that something had gone wrong. Mentally, she braced herself for whatever bad news he had to impart.

"Creston's in hospital. He's been attacked."

**TBC…**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **And another chap of these two. Hooray? I don't know. My plot bunnies keep getting distracted. I swear I have no control over them whatsoever. Thank you to Crackle for betaing. You're sweet, but nuts, considering you're now doing three of my fics at once. I promise I won't load any more onto you any time soon!

Thanks to: Sarcasm-the Lowest Form of Wit, boutondor, Koezh, phoenixmagic1, yaba, lisbon69, Divinia Serit and Viktorija for reviewing part two.

Now to double check Outside and then I can post that too!

x tromana

* * *

**Part Three**

"Rigsby, I want you and Cho to go to the hospital. See if you can talk to Creston. I want to know if he recognized his attacker."

Rigsby nodded and hurried away from Lisbon. Alone once more, she took a deep breath and headed towards the bullpen. She needed Jane, not because he'd be any good if things got out of hand, but because his opinion on Grimshaw would be useful. And if nothing else, it would keep her consultant out of trouble for a while and give her some company on the two hour car ride. Not that she would ever dare explicitly tell him she enjoyed his company. Jane's ego was already large enough to suck out all the oxygen in the CBI headquarters and it really didn't need fueling any further.

But with the kind of mood Jane had been in all week, she had half a mind to consider leaving him behind and just taking Van Pelt instead. She knew it wouldn't take the redhead long to process the CCTV footage from the area where Creston was attacked for anything useful and unless something big came up, this was going to provide a useful opportunity for the younger woman to practice her skills. Still, as Jane was coming along, Lisbon could only hope that he would choose to behave on this occasion so that she could focus more of her attention onto Van Pelt. Bosco had told her that Grimshaw owned a firearm too, which didn't help either. She didn't much like the idea of being stuck in the middle of an impromptu shootout, even with Van Pelt by her side. But knowing her luck at the moment…

While picking up the three Kevlar vests from the stores, she tried to dismiss the thought. Just because if felt like everything was going wrong and Jane was famed for causing trouble, it didn't mean that something bad was about to happen. She shook her head slightly as she thanked the man who handed her the goods. Obviously she was getting twitchy and thoughts like that were detrimental to her career.

Lisbon jumped when somebody's hand gently squeezed her left shoulder. She had been half a second away from giving Bosco a black eye, but she had managed to stop herself from punching him just in time. She was still angry with him though, so treated him to a fierce glare as he took a couple of steps backwards, giving her a little space.

"What do you want, Sam?"

"To apologize."

"Really?" she questioned and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "What's the point in saying you're sorry if you don't actually mean it?"

"I…"

"You're sorry you've made me angry, I get that. But you'll never be sorry for questioning my…" she paused as she considered the right way to phrase her relationship with Jane. "Friendship with my consultant."

Gripping tightly onto the objects she had come to collect, Lisbon used her entire body weight to push past Bosco. She knew that she had probably gone a little too far with what she had said just then, but she meant every word. Besides, she didn't have time to worry about his concerns. She had cases to solve and so did he.

And not only that, but she had to persuade a certain blond that it would be a very good idea to wear a protective vest before walking head first into a dangerous situation.

***

"I hate hospitals."

Cho glanced over at his colleague and let out a slow, measured breath of exasperation. Rigsby had repeated the same thing time and time again fir the past two hours and frankly, he was growing a little bored of it. Though the larger agent had a point, Cho couldn't help but think that there probably wasn't such thing as a person who actually liked hospitals except possibly the staff who worked there. And even then, they'd probably be ambivalent about the institutions at best.

"How much longer do we have to wait?"

Wishing that he had remembered his book so that he didn't have to put up with Rigsby's stupid questions, Cho shrugged again. They'd been told that they could they could talk to Creston once he woke up from sedation. That was exactly two hours and twenty seven minutes ago. He was hoping that it wouldn't be all that much longer because Rigsby was really beginning to get on his nerves and Cho was famed for having the patience of a saint, so that was saying something. Still, at least he hadn't taken to waxing lyrical about Van Pelt. _That_ would have been even harder to stomach.

Eighteen minutes later, though it felt like a lifetime to Cho, they finally gained access to Creston's private room. No, he hadn't seen his attacker's face, he said. Yes, he suspected that it was the boy who Jared Grimshaw had been feuding with though. And yes, he was sorry he couldn't be of any more assistance (if only because the new developments looked likely to clear his name). As they bid him farewell, Cho flexed and straightened his fingers in the hope that it would alleviate some of the tension he was carrying around. All that waiting had been pretty much a complete and utter waste of time. He'd only found out that Grimshaw was getting into regular fights with one person - and they hadn't even got a name at that.

Still, at least they could get back to CBI headquarters and Rigsby could stop whining. If they stopped off at a Subway or something first, the man would be happy all day.

***

After Van Pelt had finished her task, they were on their way. The CCTV footage had been of little use, only picking up on the number plate of a stolen white van. Lisbon decided that there was something strangely comforting about the younger woman's presence - it almost made her feel safer knowing that she had another agent with her. She still couldn't shake the shrinking feeling that something was going to go wrong purely because it was turning into one of 'those' days. Given the opportunity, she would have liked to spend the rest of the day at home watching trashy movies, where the greatest threat she would encounter would be running out of popcorn or spilling her drink.

As she pulled up at Grimshaw's home address, she frowned slightly at Van Pelt. The younger woman looked concerned too. It was the sight of a young man, dressed in a hooded sweater loitering and seemingly matching the description of the boy Grimshaw was fighting with that Rigsby had just passed onto them. After demanding that Jane stayed put until they'd had a chance to fully assess the situation, Lisbon slipped out of the driver's seat, relieved and almost proud of the fact that he had listened for a change. With Van Pelt covering her back, she headed towards Grimshaw's front door and knocked loudly.

As the door opened to reveal a scruffy young man, a shot whistled through the air, seemingly coming from out of nowhere. Van Pelt's eyes widened as she spotted the boy they had noticed earlier suddenly take flight and she gave chase, pinning him to the ground and cuffing him within half a minute. Jane, however, flew out of the car, just as Lisbon collapsed to the ground, the bullet embedded deep in her thigh.

**TBC…**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Final chapter! A relief for me, because it means I'm writing less fics with Summer Secret Santa. Plus, writing the same story from two different POVs is suprisingly hard!

Thanks to: boutondor, lisbon69, Koezh, yaba, Divinia Serit, dogeatdog, Viktorija, Frogster and WildDaisies10 for reviewing. Especially to dogeatdog who signed in anonymously, Divinia Serit for betaing and boutondor for giving me the prompt in the first place.

x tromana

* * *

**Part Four**

When Lisbon finally returned from surgery, taking what appeared to be an obscene amount of time, Van Pelt quietly left. At least the prognosis looked good and it meant she could use the excuse of passing the information onto Rigsby and Cho to get out of there. Briefly, she wondered if they had gotten a confession from the kid shooter yet. There was no doubt in her mind that he was guilty - he shot at two cops in broad daylight, how could he not? The question was simply why he'd decided to do such a stupid thing like that. She growled slightly as she climbed into her car, a little guttural rumble from her throat. Lisbon better make a full recovery else that idiot would have hell to pay.

But updating the rest of the team and finding out whether or not they had managed to get a confession wasn't the real reason she was leaving. She'd already grown sick and tired of Bosco and Jane glaring at one another, almost blaming each other for the situation. The mutual loathing the men shared was terribly immature and something she hadn't particularly enjoyed being caught in the middle of. Lisbon cared for both of them, that much was obvious, but they didn't have to let their male pride make some kind of competition out of it. Besides, neither man was in the position or even had the right to try and win her affection. She wouldn't date either of them - however much she wanted to. Even Van Pelt knew her boss held more regard for herself than that.

The journey to work was mercifully uneventful and Van Pelt almost felt calm as she pulled up in front of the CBI headquarters. The sun was setting, decorating the sky with a spectacular display of oranges and reds, not that she particularly had time to notice. She was too busy trying to get back into the work mentality. As she traveled up in the elevator, she wracked her brains, trying hard to think of the usual tasks she'd be assigned when they were on the verge of closing a case. And she'd have to see the department's shrink, having just been involved in a shooting. The red head shuddered a little and quickly made the decision to head to the kitchenette first. She'd listened to Jane extolling the virtues of tea far too many times and according to him, it was the perfect beverage for this kind of situation.

"How's Lisbon?"

She practically jumped out of her skin as Rigsby asked the question, completely forgoing the usual 'hello'. His brown eyes were rounded, full of concern for his boss and the look reminded Van Pelt of just why she had fallen in love with him in the first place.

"She should be fine," she assured him, smiling briefly as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Clean entry, no major damage. She'll need physio though."

"Hm. She won't like that."

"I guess, but it's far better than it could have been."

Disentangling herself from Rigsby's arm, she poured the boiling water into her mug and then allowed the tea bag to stew.

"What about you? Have you…"

"Cho got the confession," he answered and Van Pelt beamed. "Carey sang like a song bird when he realized he'd just hospitalized a cop."

"And?"

"Grimshaw was the intended target all along. Carey was jealous of his relationship with the Creston girl."

"And the attack on the father?"

"Creston again."

"Lisbon will be pleased."

"Yeah."

Rigsby grinned and he swiped a sip of her tea, much to her disgust.

"Hey, that's mine!"

"And? You need to book an appointment with the shrink. Second time in a month isn't it?"

"Don't remind me," she snapped, wincing as her ribs twinged slightly. She wasn't quite healed then. "Really, don't."

***

Her head was throbbing.

That was nothing new. Lisbon often had headaches and migraines, it was something she inherited from her mother, something she was less than grateful for. It got in the way of her work more often that she cared to admit, but she learned to work through it. With eyes scrunched tightly shut, she moved her left arm to massage her sore temples but froze when something foreign laced its way up her upper body. Tentatively, she opened her eyes to be confronted with plastic tubing and the concerned faces of Patrick Jane and Sam Bosco looking down at her.

"Oh no…" she choked, her throat feeling terribly dry.

Both men smiled genially at her, but Jane glared at Bosco when he took Lisbon's hand to stroke it gently, looking positively jealous as his fingers gently stroked over the woman's knuckles. Irritably, Lisbon pulled her hand away from the other senior agent and despite the tubing, laced her hands together and allowed them to rest on her abdomen. Quickly, she glanced from one to the other and both wore expressions of kids who had been caught fighting when they'd explicitly been told to behave.

"What happened?"

"You were shot."

"And?"

"You should be fine."

"Oh. Good," she replied, seemingly unconcerned about the injury she'd received. "And the case? How is everybody else?"

"Case closed," Jane announced brightly and Lisbon allowed herself to relax a little. "Cho got the confession in record time, apparently. They're worried about you."

"They're all fine, Teresa," Bosco interrupted, much to the blond's annoyance. He was just getting to that part. "And I've informed your brothers. James is on his way."

Lisbon narrowed her eyes slightly. While she appreciated Sam's sentiment, the last thing she wanted was James Lisbon flying over to be all overprotective of her. She may have been accused of acting like a mother hen on occasion, but the eldest of her younger brothers really took that characteristic to the extreme. Still, she would have had to tell them sooner or later, so it was better Sam than herself she decided. She glanced at the twenty four hour clock in front of her. Nine seventeen p.m. They'd arrived at the Grimshaw kid's place slightly before midday.

"Does your wife know where you are?"

Sam remained silent and Lisbon nodded slightly.

"Go home. Go see her."

Jane looked almost triumphant at the fact that she had dismissed him.

"You can go too, Jane. I need somebody to go and greet my brother at the airport."

***

Two weeks later and Lisbon was not only relieved to be back at work, despite the damn crutches. Maybe she was being a bit over eager in dismissing their usefulness, but really she couldn't stand being on them for longer than she absolutely had to. Only two weeks longer, she told herself as she took to the elevator. As far as she was concerned, it was better to limp than to have the apologetic looks from complete strangers as she attempted to weave through people on the metal sticks. If it wasn't for her doctor telling her that getting rid of them now would be foolhardy and would lead to longer, more permanent, damage, she would have disposed of them already.

Now, it was time for things to get back to normal. As Jane and her brother had gotten on like a house on fire, he was driving James back to the airport. Bosco, however, was the one driving her everywhere while she was still unable to use her leg for little more than hobbling. It seemed that while she recuperated that she was going to have several shadows, but Lisbon knew that she shouldn't complain, it was just their way of showing affection. As she slowly made her way past the bullpen, Rigsby offered her a bright smile and Cho nodded gently in her direction. Van Pelt was still off, at her suggestion. The woman still hadn't quite recovered properly from her own injury and besides, she was still a little shell shocked at being involved in two shootings so close to one another. Bosco hovered behind her as she said her greetings to her team and eventually helped her into her office in silence.

"He's going to be the death of you."

"I'll see you later, Sam."

He didn't need to say the name of who he was referring to. As he nodded and quietly closed her office door, she couldn't help but wonder if he was right.

end


End file.
